Customer Reviews

Principles of Corporate Finance (Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Series in Finance, Insurance & Real Estate)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used Brealey and Myers (4th edition) at a Top-20 MBA program 10 years ago. Through the years many finance professionals I have known who attended Top-20 MBA schools still have their copies of Brealey and Myers. The success of this textbook (currently in its 7th edition) in top MBA programs over the past 20 years speaks for itself.

The strength of this title lies in its presentation. It earns at least one bonus star just for the example involving "Marvin Enterprises" and the production of gargleblasters. (If that statement confuses you, order Douglas Adams "The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy" now. It's better than Brealey-Myers, and cheaper.) The writing is truly exemplary for a 101-level text.
The weakness of the book is exactly that, though: it is a 101-level text. That's fine (I guess) if you're buying this for a class, or in preparation for the SOA Finanace VEE (as I was); If you're hoping for detailed explanations of CAPM, Black-Scholes, or even the efficient market hypothesis, look elsewhere.

As a book, I have yet to come across one that is better written than this one. This book should form the foundation on which the superstructure (of your finance knowledge) is built. Everytime you have problems with the intuition underlying some concept, use this book. I commend the chapters on NPV, Capital Budgeting and Risk, Where Positive NPV comes from, A project is not a Black Box and Chapters 17, 18 & 19 which deal with the Modigliani-Miller principles and capital structure.

The book does a very good job in covering literally all aspects of value, risk, cap. budgeting, choosing appropriate cap. structure, and other topics in corp fin. However, what I found impracticable is the sometimes unnecessary complicated language even when it comes to explaining simple things. To me, there is no point in making corporate finance more complicated than it is.
That's why good, otherwise would be excellent.

Before you buy this, ask yourself the following three questions:

1. Are you studying towards a professional qualification or an advanced degree?
2.Do you have a fundamental knowledge of finance?
3. Are you really inclined to prepare from the bible?

If you've answered "yes" to all the three question above, then don't think twice, go ahead and buy this book. However if you answered "yes" to all the above question and didn't find this book useful, then maybe corporate finance is not for you!!!

This is the ultimate book on finance for anyone who already has some knowledge of basic corporate finance. The author starts from Time Value of money and takes you to an advanced level.If this book is read(and understood)along with readings that the authors mention, then there is no doubt that you may as well write a book on corporate finance.

However Short finance area is not properly presented in this book and therefore is you want to buy a book which focuses on short term finance, then don't even think about this book.

Other than the shortage mentioned above, the book make a complete read, and is a must have for anyone interested in knowning finance to the max.

...This book runneth over with usefulness!
Every student of applied corporate finance should own this volume. This book has reared its informative head during numerous periods in my journey towards understanding financial theory effectively --from the States to industry to the hallowed halls of several European universities and beyond...

Parents: buy this book for your fledgling exotic derivatives trader or your future Wharton professor!

There is a reason every top 20 MBA program in the US uses this masterpiece.

Get ready for the ride of your life.

This is the worst finance book I have ever seen. For a book used for a MBA finance course it is not very helpful at all. If you are not a finance genius this book is definetly a no no. The examples leave you clueless and the theory is very general. Dare to try and solve the unrealistic sample problems at the end of the chapters, and a lot of the solutions in the solutions manual are WRONG! The professor who taught the Finance class, who has been in the field all his life and has a doctorate degree in finance admits this book is garbage and not appropriate for the MBA; beacuse of this we did not even use the book for his course. This is a very expensive and huge book and so not worth the price. I learned nothing!